Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 2, The

On The Randy Newman Songbook Vol. 2, the second in a proposed three-volume retrospective, the singer and songwriter offers another engrossing solo set, just piano and voice, that swings between the hilarious and the heartbreaking, sometimes brilliantly encompassing both. Longtime collaborators Mitchell Froom and Lenny Waronker, who were also behind the boards for Newman's acclaimed 2008 Nonesuch disc Harps and Angels, co-produced. These 16 tunes, drawn from a catalog that now spans four decades, are not normal indeed. "Cowboys" first appeared on his stunningly mature 1968 debut, Randy Newman, while the grimly amusing "Laugh and Be Happy" and the bittersweet "Losing You" are taken from Harps and Angels.